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Well, as long as Arsenal can keep onto the signing that made them the team they are today - namely manager Arsene Wenger - then all is not lost for the Gunners, though it'll take them a year or two to rebuild.

I know most people interested in football here are European, but I wanted to remark Argentina's win tonight against the US in the initial match of the Copa America (or America Cup, whatever you call it there ) 4 - 1.

The match started better for the yanks with a penalty (and a consecuential goal), but then we Argies proved what we're all cracked up to be with four goals and general ownage.

Go Argentina!

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This happened on Wednesday. I almost broke my kitchen table when it happened.

Messi's on the way to becoming the number 1 player in the world, without a damn doubt.

Such a gem. And it's ours! ALL OURS! Mwahahahahaha!

Agreed - magnificent goal. About as good as Rooney against Portsmouth in the FA Cup this past season. However, I'm not sure whether he'll be the best player in the world.. to do that you still need a whole array of other skills.

Riquelme (and the midfield protecting him) has been the most important for Argentina this cup. I really hope you beat Brazil.

Whats happening to my beloved Leeds United!?! We still can't buy players because of the cursed FL but at least we're allowed to start the season. How are we supposed to win it now though with no players, our squad is bare thin? I hate the Chelsea scum that is at my club at the mo!

I know most people interested in football here are European, but I wanted to remark Argentina's win tonight against the US in the initial match of the Copa America (or America Cup, whatever you call it there ) 4 - 1.

The match started better for the yanks with a penalty (and a consecuential goal), but then we Argies proved what we're all cracked up to be with four goals and general ownage.

Go Argentina!

Ah yes, the dream final between Brazil and Argentina. Maybe I should wake up early in Monday morning just to watch it? And after the match, I'm off to work.

(Sucks having to live more than 12 hours away from South America, a reason why South American football is not well-known compared to European football in my parts of the world, because no one can be bothered to wake up that early, especially not when it gets in the way of school/work. On the other hand, it can be a good thing because audiences can be pleasantly surprised by the occasional "gem" emerging at the next World Cup. )

Brazil has been doing quite well under Dunga. They were definitely more fluid compared to their anemic performances in last year's WC where the previous coach insisted on stifling the team with "star players" who aren't even in-form. A bit like England.

Speaking of England, hats-off to Jamie Carragher for telling McClaren to f*** off and deciding to quit England after he picked Ledley King and Wes Brown ahead of him. For eight years he had to endure being behind John Terry, Sol Campell, Rio Ferdinand and Jonathan Woodgate in the pecking order for the centre-back position.

Whenever one of them was injured, he was always left out and asked to "fill in" other empty positions, which he isn't good at, and then unfairly gets blamed for his performance there.

When you look at Carragher's Liverpool record, it has always been consistent, so it's baffling that McClaren and Eriksson before him can overlook him for other defenders.

A while ago this radio host decided to be clever and called Carragher a "bottler" (not sure what it really means, but something akin to a "loser") for "giving up so easily". However, the host never thought that Carragher himself would actually call in, and was promptly given a piece of Carragher's mind. Simply classic.

Fuck, I can't help but say I'm saddened and stunned by what happened in the final match of the Copa America. Football's a bag of surprises, they say, and this turned out true today, in the match between Brazil and Argentina.

Argentina made a near-perfect tournament by winning all of the matches, scoring 16 goals and receiving only 3 in a total of 5 matches. On the other hand, Brazil had lost one match and their clash with Uruguay in the semifinals ended up in a draw (they got to the final by penalty shootout), overall a much crappier tournament than Argentina.

However, today they played a smart game. Unfair play was at the order of the day, with an unnerving amount of fouls made by Brazil in the center of the field, effectively cutting the flow of the game and isolating our top players. With the help of the Brazilian physical superiority (and the extra day of rest their players had had), their extremely tight defense didn't let our players' technical superiority shine enough. And then again, a stunning effectiveness in their attackers' feet was key to their success. Before the match got 3 - 0, both teams had had almost the same amount of goal attempts.

Football's full of surprises. And today's surprise has been one of the saddest for me. Our team had shown a clear superiority over the rest of the teams we faced during the tournament, and Brazil had only shined once, against the crippled Chile (which showed less first team players in their match due to a scandal which had involved some of them some nights ago).

Brazil 3 - Argentina 0. Brazil keeps the Copa America for themselves once again. I am however, kind of relieved--Argentina showed a heck of a performance in the matches before the final. If we can correct what went wrong today, then the future may appear brighter.

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Bahrain beats Korean Republic 2-1 in Asian Cup. Yaay!!! This will increase my country (Indonesia)'s chance to go to the quarter final! All we need is at least draw against Korea and bahrain should be lose/draw against Saudi Arabia with least score available...

Brazil 3 - Argentina 0. Brazil keeps the Copa America for themselves once again. I am however, kind of relieved--Argentina showed a heck of a performance in the matches before the final. If we can correct what went wrong today, then the future may appear brighter.

Your comments sound a little funny to me. Argentina has always been known for rough-play and overall never showed the same kind of quality that Brazil shows over and over again.
It can be that they weren't brilliant this time around (as we always expect them to be, or expect that the underdog beat them), but Brazil has always had a better team than Argentina, that's a fact that shows on how many matches and world coups they have won, not to say the average quality of their players, which is below no other nation in the world.

Your comments sound a little funny to me. Argentina has always been known for rough-play and overall never showed the same kind of quality that Brazil shows over and over again.
It can be that they weren't brilliant this time around (as we always expect them to be, or expect that the underdog beat them), but Brazil has always had a better team than Argentina, that's a fact that shows on how many matches and world coups they have won, not to say the average quality of their players, which is below no other nation in the world.

Well, if you look at it really well, you'll notice that Brazil depends a lot on their physical prowess. Argentina has traditionally been a team with a physical disadvantage against other teams, too. I can only think of a few Brazilian players who are more known for their technical qualities than for their physical ability. And if you had watched the match, you should have noticed the enormous amount of fouls Brazil made.

There was always Maradona, too

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